Facts about Zola Budd

Summary

Zola Budd (born as Zola Pieterse in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa) is a famous Athlete from South Africa, she is 51 years old and still alive, born May 26, 1966.

Biography

Zola Budd (after marriage Zola Pieterse) is a former South African long-distance runner who started for the United Kingdom.

Zola Budd in 1984 at the age of seventeen became world famous, as she got the world record in 5,000-meter race at 15:01,83 minutes improved.

Since that time South Africa was excluded because of the apartheid system of all international sports competitions, she applied for British citizenship, which she claimed that she had a British grandfather. The application has been processed so quickly that they could compete at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles for her new country.

There she started in the 3000-meter run against her idol Mary Decker. The eight year old U.S. citizen was in this discipline as the favorite for the gold medal. During the race, but the two collided, so that Mary Decker fell and was eliminated. The American audience whistled the young athlete then mercilessly and saw them as the sole culprit for the resignation of one of the most popular American athletes. Zola Budd was unnerved seventh of the final run.

The following year she won the World Cross Country Championships and placed (14:48,07 min) another world record over 5000 m. In 1986 she defended her world title in cross country and ran a world indoor record for 3,000 m. Then she went through to create an injury, so she stayed at the European Athletics Championships 1986 without a medal.

A dispute over an alleged participation in a sporting event in their home country meant that they returned to South Africa in 1988 and for several years retired from competitive sports.

In 1989, she married Mike Pieterse. After the sporting sanctions against South Africa were lifted, she was among the team of their country at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, but reached more than 3000 m is not the final. A year later, she was fourth in the Cross Country World Cup.

Today she lives in her parents' farm with her mother, her husband and three children. She still runs regularly, but now a pleasure.

Zodiac etc.

She is born under the zodiac gemini, who is known for Communication, Indecision, Inquisitive, Intelligent, Changeable.
Our collection contains 8 quotes who is written / told by Zola.

"Coming from a farming background, I saw nothing out of the ordinary in running barefoot, although it seemed to startle the rest of the athletics world. I have always enjoyed going barefoot and when I was growing up I seldom wore shoes, even when I went into town"